


Beauty Draws Us With a Single Hair

by tomatopudding



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Because of Reasons, F/M, Happy Ending, Internalized Homophobia, Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of Sex, Polyamory Negotiations, Realizations, but nothing graphic, like feelings, or at least the beginnings of them, supportive wives, the haircut makes rhett feel things, this is set in the distant past of 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-27 02:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17758079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: Link's haircut makes Rhett rethink some things about himself.





	Beauty Draws Us With a Single Hair

**Author's Note:**

> Um, hi there everyone. So I'm a fairly new Mythical Beast (I started watching regularly I think somewhere in season 10) and even newer to the Rhink fandom. RPF isn't usually my thing, but as you probably know if you're reading this it's hard to resist their pull. In any case, I'm sure there are already a bunch of fics centering around The Haircut, but I wasn't in the fandom yet when it happened sooo here's my addition to that multitude. I've been meaning to write a little something of these two, but I didn't know what to write before. This idea started out as something that was only meant to be a few paragraphs of Rhett's introspection and then it kind of just...got out of hand. So it goes. Title is a quote by Alexander Pope.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t know it was coming. They had discussed it at length, the three of them together, several times since Link had first casually mentioned it about halfway through the filming of season eight. Rhett couldn’t really begrudge him considering it, what right did he have, or did Stevie have for that matter, to be a nay-sayer in such a personal decision? Rhett himself had had many changes in his appearance over their time on the internet, albeit much more subtle changes like the length and shape of his beard or the particular way he backcombed his hair. What Link was suggesting was something so much more drastic, something noticeable and potentially controversial. Which was pretty ridiculous if Rhett thought about it; people changed their hairstyles all the time and the two of them were a testament to that fact over the course of their lives. Although now it was their brand too, hell it was a part of their logo. So shouldn’t Rhett have a say in something that could have further implications on their joint career?

But it wasn’t only professional, not if Rhett considered it harder than he really liked. Since they had started growing their brand as “Rhett and Link” rather than two separate people—not that they had ever really been separate people, ever since they’d met and connected, drawn to each other like a moth to a flame or maybe more accurately like the opposing poles of two magnets because even moths had some semblance of choice as to whether to give in tot he pull while magnets just couldn’t help themselves—but since since the birth of their brand they’d embraced that duality between them. Beard and wings. The businessman and the boy. And event though that “boy” took care of the majority of the tasks that required a stronger grip or a more controlled nature, Rhett had enjoyed that perceived elevated maturity he had. It was something new, not that way people who knew them actually saw them. Because Link had always been the more mature and responsible one between the two of them. Link came from what Mama Di would call a “broken home,” a child of divorce who had always felt it was his manly duty to take care of his mama as much as she took care of him, like he blanketed himself with it to hide his self-perceived flaws. It was probably the he hadn’t had any really close friends before Rhett came along and it was what had drawn Rhett to him in the first place.

Sure, he joked about the fact that he’d asked lots of his new classmates to have a sleepover and that Link was simply the first one to say yes, and although that was actually true it wasn’t everything. The truth of the matter was that Rhett had put off asking Link because he had been inexplicably drawn tot eh other boy and had been deeply fearful of what might happen if Link didn’t say yet. But he did say yes and history was made.

In any case, all through childhood, being a younger brother and a part of your “typical” family had not allowed him to build up that robe of maturity that Link wore so well. Rhett knew that he had brought a lot of Link’s goofy childishness to the surface with his mere presence, he’d overheard several conversations between their mothers to that effect over the years. So Rhett was proud of that and how it had altered the way the world today saw Link. And just like he had been afraid before about what would happen to _him_ if Link denied his sleepover request, now he was afraid of what would happen to _Link_ if he got rid of that physical manifestation of youth.

To be perfectly honest, he hadn’t quite believed Link would actually go through with it, despite getting the go-ahead. Even when he mentioned it in the final GMMore of the season, the way Link had changed his wording from haircut to hairstyle simply supported that disbelief. It didn’t matter that Link felt the need to say that he had already made an appointment with a hairdresser. That was part of the reason he hadn’t commented, choosing to busy himself with the crew’s eggnog. He didn’t want to make too big of a deal of it for the mythical beasts just in case it didn’t happen to it wasn’t as intense of a change. So when he returned to the studio after the short vacations between filming the end of season eight and the beginning of season nine, he wasn’t sure what he expected to find.

Link was already in their office when Rhett arrived on that first day back to work, the hood of his pullover sweatshirt covering his head. This was unusual in and of itself, Link enjoyed feeling cozy, but when he swiveled his chair towards the sound of the opening door, Rhett could tell that there was something different. For one thing, Link’s entire forehead was visible. Rhett didn’t remember the last time that was the case. When he saw him, Link grinned.

“Hey, man, you’re here,” he said, “good. Crew’s been dyin’ to get a look at my new ‘do, but I told them they’d have to wait until your ass showed up. Not even Stevie’s seen it, nobody but Christy and the kids has. And whoever was at the salon when I got it done.”

“You actually did it," Rhett replied, unable to keep the tone of surprise out of his voice.

“Normally I’d be annoyed by your doubt, but honestly I’m too excited to care,” Link informed him, “I’m sure everyone knows you’re here by now and they’re probably all waiting on set already, so hop to it.”

Link stood and adjusted the hood so that it was covering his head better and brushed past Rhett, who was still frozen in the doorway. Rhett felt the sudden urge to stop him, insist to see the haircut before anybody else. He wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to prove with that, so Rhett pushed it down and followed Link to the GMM set. As predicted, the entire crew was there already, not even making an attempt to look like they were actually working.

“Is everybody ready?” Link asked facetiously, not even having to raise his voice to get everyone’s attention, “Here goes. Ta da!”

With that, Link swept the sweatshirt hood off of his head dramatically and Rhett’s breath caught in his throat.

Rhett had known that Link was objectively attractive for as long as he’d known what it meant to be attractive. And even if he hadn’t realized it on his own, the various girlfriends Link had had in high school and college before he’d met Christy certainly would have clued Rhett in. But knowing that someone is attractive was one thing, being attracted to to someone, well that was something else entirely. It was a state of being that Rhett had never allowed himself to fall into when it concerned his best friend and he certainly wasn’t going to start now.

“Well?”

Rhett realized that Link was speaking to him now, everyone else dispersed to get to work to prepare for the first day of shooting and it was now just the two of them in their own little bubble amid the bustle and noise of others.

“What do you think?”

Had Link’s eyes always been that blue or was Rhett imagining things? Link was looking at him so earnestly, asking with just his gaze for Rhett to come out with the truth and not just some itty sarcastic rejoinder, and Rhett found that even if he had wanted to he wouldn’t know how.

“It looks good, brother,” Rhett said, trying to distance himself from that feeling in his chest that was _not_ attraction, thank you very much by using that nickname, “Real good.”

Then Link smiled and not that big entertainer grin, but the private little soft smile reserved only for Christy and Jessie and the kids and Rhett. And damn it if it didn’t do something to him right then and there, making him feel all warm and happy inside. Fuck. It was going to be a long day

 

—————

 

There were some days where the creative juices were flowing and ideas kept blossoming and Rhett felt like he could work straight through the night and into the next morning without any negative repercussions. Then there were the days where, despite their productivity, Rhett found himself resisting the urge to look at the clock too often. This day was the latter and when he found himself idly scrolling through an important email from a potential sponsor without actually reading any of it, Rhett decided to give in. They’d finished all their filming for the day and were for once ahead of schedule with episode planning. Four thirty was close enough to five anyway.

“I’m heading out,” Rhett informed.

Link was still engrossed in whatever he was doing and simply raised his hand in farewell. Rhett left before he could linger too much on how easy it was to see Link’s defined jawline now. Hr ducked in to say a quick goodbye to Stevie before heading out into what passed for cold in LA. As he made his way to the car, Rhett gave Jessie a call.

“Staying late tonight?” she asked when she picked up.

“Coming home a bit early, actually,” countered Rhett, “I was thinking of picking up some pizza for dinner.”

“That sounds great, babe,” Jessie replied, sounding mildly surprised at the turn of events but not displeased, “the boys are sleeping over at Jack and Cindy’s tonight, so it’s just the two of us.”

Locke and Shepard were still on their winter break for another few days, so it wasn’t unusual that they’s be sleeping over at a friend’s house. Rhett thought it was great that Jack and Cindy’s boys were about the same ages as Locke and Shepard so the four of them got along very well. Not to mention, a night in alone with his wife sounded like the perfect idea right now.

“Crack open a bottle of wine and let’s make a date of it,” Rhett suggested, “I’ll grab us a little something special for dessert.”

“Sounds good, baby, I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Rhett felt rather pleased with himself when he hung up the phone. Today had obviously been a fluke, all he needs to do was spend some quality time with his wife and all the definitely untrue thoughts of attraction to Link would be forgotten. And things went mostly according to plan. They ate pizza and drank wine by candle light and shared the tiramisu snuggled on the couch watching one of those rom coms Rhett would never admit to liking so much. And when the credits started to roll and Rhett pulled Jessie close for a deep and passionate kiss, she very happily lead the way to their bedroom. Rhett loved those rare times they had the house to themselves and Jessie don’t need to hold back those lovely sounds she made. After, they lay together naked and tangled up in their bedsheets, both covered in a sheen of sweet and trying to catch their breaths. Jessie snuggled close, her head on his chest and one leg thrown over his hips. After several long moments of blissful silence, Jessie spoke.

“Are you feeling alright, Rhett? You seemed a little spacey.”

Rhett propped himself up on his elbows so quickly that he nearly dislodged her.

“What? No I wasn’t. Aw hell, did you not actually…”

“Calm down, baby,” Jessie soothed urging him without success to lie back down, “It was wonderful, I promise. I can just tell that there’s something whirring around in that brain of yours. Talk to me.”

Rhett heaved a sigh. And here he’d thought that he’d hidden it so well.

“Link got a haircut,” he told her, aware of how odd it might sound.

Jessie hummed, “Christy sent me pictures days ago.”

“Hang on,” Rhett actually sat up this time, crossing his legs underneath himself, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jessie sat up as well, leaning back against the headboard.

“She asked me not to,” Jessie explained, “Link wanted it to be a surprise for you. If it makes you feel any better I don’t think Link knows that I’ve already seen.”

Oddly enough, it did make him feel better and he said so.

“He looks good with it,” Jessie added slyly, “Real cute.”

Rhett’s eyes widened and his hands clenched into fists. He was a straight man, damnit, hr wasn’t supposed to find other men cute. And yet.

“You havin’ a bit of a panic there, baby?” Jessie asked.

Rhett nodded stiffly, breaths short and sharp and his hands clenching and unclenching without him realizing it. It was only when Jessie placed her hands gently on his that he noticed.

“It’s alright, you’re allowed to panic.”

He had to hunch over quite a bit to rest his forehead on Jessie’s shoulder, but he did it anyway shivers traveling down his spine every so often, Was this what it felt like to have a panic attack? He’d had to help Link through a few over the years and it always seemed to involve more gasping and fidgeting than this. He felt a little detached from himself, suddenly feeling like he didn’t know where he was, but that thankfully passed as quickly as it came under Jessie’s gentle stroking of his hair.

“Never let myself feel the way about him before,” Rhett mumbled when he could bring himself to speak.

“But you felt it,” Jessie said and it wasn’t actually a question, but Rhett nodded in response anyway, “I can see it in your eyes when you look at him sometimes. When I first noticed, I thought maybe it was my fault somehow, something I had or hadn’t done, but,” she hurried to continue whence felt the protest begin on his lips, “I know that that’s not true. I was young and stupid then.”

“You’ve never been stupid,” Rhett told her vehemently.

Jessie giggled, “Alright, then silly and not as self-assured as I am now. Because you wouldn’t be Rhett McLaughlin if you didn’t love Link Neal. And that’s why I need you to know that you don’t ever have to be afraid of losing me. No matter what, I’ll be by your side and waiting at home for you with open arms and a heart full of love.”

Rhett sat up straight, his back protesting at the sudden movement, and frowned in confusion, “I don’t understand. Are you giving me permission to have an affair?”

“Don’t think of it as an affair,” Jessie told him, “I don’t. He’s just as much a part of you as you are of yourself and of him.”

“But what about Christy?” asked Rhett, “I won’t allow myself to be the one who breaks up…”

He trailed off when he saw the way his wife was gazing at him. She reached up and cupped his cheek with one delicate hand.

“Do you really think I’d be encouraging you like this if Christy and I hadn’t talked about it first?” Jessie asked fondly, “We both knew going in to this that you two are a package deal. Just because neither of us realized the nature of that package at first doesn’t mean we aren’t willing to accept it. And of you’re really worried, just ask Christy yourself. If you do decide to move forward, I have one favor to ask of you.”

“Anything,” Rhett said earnestly.

Jessie smirked, “You have to promise that you’ll tell me all the dirty details.”

 

—————

 

It took Rhett the rest of the week to actually muster up the courage to do anything about it. He did end up texting Christy to ask her about it and got an emphatic approval with no less that four exclamation points and five kissy face emojis. So that seemed settled. The actual follow though was the hard part. Not that he didn’t have the opportunity, those presented themselves fairly regularly, especially when Thursday rolled around. But he didn’t want to break the sanctity of their late night work session, it seemed wrong somehow. By then Rhett had promised himself that he would do it on Friday anyway. If anything, it would give them an whole weekend to pretend it never happened and move on if things ended badly. He kept putting it off and the hours slipped by more quickly than he realized. Suddenly is was quitting time and Link was packing his things, shutting down his computer for the weekend. Link was halfway to the door by the time Rhett noticed and he knew it was now or never.

“Link, wait!”

Link’s hand was on the doorknob, his backpack slung over one shoulder as he looked back at Rhett with on eyebrow raised. Rhett stood up from his chair, suddenly feeling gangly and uncoordinated in a way that he hadn’t since he’d hit his first big growth spurt.

“Can you, uh, come here?”

“C’mon, man,” Link huffed, “It’s Friday, I’m tired.”

“Please?” Rhett asked, hating the way his voice wavered ever so slightly.

Link sighed, dropped his backpack on the floor by the door, and complied. Once he was standing in front of Rhett, his raised his hands as if to say “I’m here. Now what.” Which was exactly the question Rhett was asking himself. Link must have seen that look on his face because the annoyance in his eyes about being help up dropped into concern.

“You’ve been acting weird all week,” Link said, “What’s wrong, bo?”

It was that old childhood term of endearment that did it, that pushed Rhett to take a step forward and close the gap between them, both hands coming up to cup Link’s face and Rhett pressed their lips together firmly. It was chaste, as kisses went, completely close-mouthed but deliberate, lasting several long moments and releasing with almost a cartoonish smacking noise. Then, Rhett stepped back and waited for the fireworks. If it were any other situation, it would have been amusing to see the way that Link blinked rapidly, his mouth very slightly open. The silence between them stretched for too long and Rhett was on the verge of apologizing and running out, cursing himself for not packing up first, when something amazing happened. Link surged forward to kiss him again and Rhett inhaled sharply though his nose before melting into it. Link’s tongue teased the seam of his lips and Rhett let him in without hesitation.

This time there _were_ fireworks, igniting in Rhett’s brain as Link deepened the kiss. One of Rhett’s hands rose by its own volition to the back of Link’s neck to tangle in the newly shorn hair there. His other hand rested on Link’s narrow waist. For his part, there was nothing tentative about Link, his tongue curling hotly around Rhett’s, fingers of both hands twisting the fabric of Rhett’s shirt across his back. In ways it was very different from kissing Jessie, of course because of the stubble and light cologne instead of sweet perfume and that he didn’t have to lean down nearly as much. But there were also ways where it was very much the same in that Rhett allowed his partner to take the lead and is brain was completely focused on what was happening and even in the way a pleasant warmth settled in his chest. Eventually they broke apart, but Rhett was unwilling to separate completely, resting his forehead gently against Link’s and keeping his eyes blissfully closed. Link obvious felt the same, since he kept pecking small kissed on Rhett’s lips and cheeks.

“I can’t believe this finally happened,” Link sighed.

“Finally?”

Rhett opened his eyes and leaned back slightly so that he wouldn’t go cross-eyed trying to look at the man in his arms. There was something overwhelmingly intimate about direct eye contact in general, but even more so in this close proximity.

Link huffed out a laugh, “Man, I had my gay panic about you years ago. What took you so long?”

“I guess I just needed the right trigger,” Rhett replied.

Link looked confused for a moment before understanding blossomed, “The hair.”

Rhett’s cheeks warmed as he blushed and he mumbled, “It looks really cute, okay? You’re gorgeous.”

One corner of Link’s lips quirked into a little half smile that made Rhett just about melt.

“You really think so?” Link asked, his eyes shining.

“I really do,” Rhett told him, trying to hide the fact that his blush deepened by leaning down to kiss Link again, briefly but sweetly, “You need to figure out how to style it, though. You look like an accountant.”

Link’s resulting peal of laughter warmed Rhett to his very soul. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Whelp. Thank you for indulging me in this foray into writing RandL, I hope that I've done them justice and that y'all enjoyed. Feel free to come and chat with me on tumblr if you'd like, I'm mimicala93 on there. Be warned though, I generally just post updates on my current cross stitch projects and then lurk around favoriting random fandom things. So...yeah.


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